Star Granger Season 5 - Chapter 7

Thoughts

"speech"

"Goa'uld speech"

SG SG SG SG SG SG SG

October 11th 2002 - The End

I gingerly step around the pavement pizza in front of me. It's still early into the night and all, yet rubbish already litters the dark streets around.

Soho, 'clubbing capital of the world', my arse…

Closer to the entrance one can already hear the heavy, monotonous beat of the music filtering from inside through the acoustic protection. It's only a whisper - The kind of tune one feels in one's stomach, more than hears with her ears. It's enough to draw people in like moths to the light, though.

My face gets us past the queue and through the doors without delay.

Probably the reason my dear friends invited me here tonight.

Soon enough, we snake our way through the excited crowds towards the main hall. The music is heavy. All encompassing. The simple electric tune grabs at one's full attention, while the deep heavy drums try to mash your guts and brains. Thin moving and blinking lights show fractions of mostly human silhouettes, moving erratically to the music. People jump up and down to the beat as one, waving their arms in ecstasy.

Clearly, some Ecstasy takes its part.

In here, god is a DJ, and not some pesky, masquerading space snake - especially tonight. I move us close to the stand to wave at the band. Ayalah is a mate of sorts. Dido as well. We did some charity together last Christmas.

Dido appreciates Lya's look tonight. She is dressed in this body-tight, sparkling silver suit, together with a matching cap, to hide her peculiar hairstyle. Sappho, in torn black jeans and a matching tight tank top fits perfectly with the crowds. Her bubblegum-pink cropped hair matches this place perfectly too. Kazuko has aired her old Idol-girl costume, complete with a shocking blue wig. And me?

Meh, The End's not really my place.

The girls disappear into the unsuspecting crowd, while I gravitate slowly towards the bar.

So tired.

I used to worry, thought I was going mad in a hurry,
Gettin' stressed, makin' excess mess in darkness
No electricity, something's all over me, greasy

Insomnia

This experiment we are holding is killing me, though thankfully not literally, or not yet at the least. Killing us! It's not like we have any idea regarding what's 'right'. We're only starting to understand the risks. We certainly know the needs and reasons. We consulted with Seth, Dr Miles, and another psychiatrist the MI5 has recommended for us. She is specialising in PSD symptoms and particularly in related sleep disorders. We didn't stop dissecting, analysing, and storing our memories - that's an actual necessity for us mages. What the esteemed committee instructed us to do is set a 'batch' of memories free each night, so our brains will have readily available 'dream materials'.

Miss specialist reckons in a few months' time, and once our minds have the opportunity to cycle through all our memories and process the related emotions.

The word 'process' now gives me the creeps.

Things will get better. Miss specialist is also of the opinion that 'things' will get worse, long before getting any better.

Mark me buoyant.

Miss specialist also freely admits that she understands bugger all regarding the way our minds work. 'Fascinating' was the word she used.

Meanwhile, and for four nights every week, Bill, Fleur, Harry, and I only get a few, short, fragmented hours of sleep.

I need to sleep,
I can't get no sleep

I wave to the bartender and wait for my too-small-to-be-a-proper-pint, and too-expensive-to-even-be-angry-about, plastic cup of beverage, that the owners here call 'a beer'. A tall, blond chap pushes himself to the bar, right beside me, and waves his card at the bartender to cover my drink. I roll my eyes at the bartender with the best 'whatever' expression I can manage. "Julian, Julian Whitehouse. From Birmingham!" he all but shouts at me, to be heard over the pounding music. "And you are?" he adds, smiling hopefully.

I'm pushed a little from behind and turn to see a girl leaving the bar with a beer in hand. Back to my left, Mr. Brummy is still learning at me.

"So not interested," I tell him, and turn to leave. From the look on his face, he got the reference.

Always wanted to say this in context.

All I manage is a couple of steps and a tiny sip of my drink, before being pulled by Kazuko into the loo of all places.

Actually, around here, this is the only place where one can try and hold a conversation.

My head is a tad fuzzy, and I take another sip, before that drink gets knocked out of my hand by someone getting out of the cubicle behind me.

"So sorry!" she says in my general direction, as she rushes to look closely at her face in the mirror. She doesn't bother to look at me and doesn't seem to be sorry in any way. Another girl comes out behind her, arranging her clothes.

Not that there's anything wrong with it, but in the loo? Just eww…

Lya is here too and is looking at me with a smirk, which is rather unbecoming of a Nox of her position. Any Nox for that matter. She offers me a small snuffbox filled with small red pills.

Honestly?!

"Come on?" Kazuko tells me with a leary smile. "Live a little!"

"Almost as much fun as the new Asgard bodies," Sappho agrees.

Lya keeps her smirk. "Made of natural ingredients only. Hand on heart!"

I look at the pills reluctantly. "Don't you have any of the blue ones?" I ask and earn a laugh in return. It's not that I'm worried to take anything the esteemed Nox Chancellor is offering, but mind altering substances are just not my thing.

"Hurry up," Sappho urges me, "This place is sensational," she adds. "Alteran opera was never this good!"

"Oh, go on then," I finally relent, and pick up one of the offered pills.

"Smashing!" Sappho enthuses and heads back out into the music and the mix of sweaty people, dancing to it.

"Just give me a moment?" I ask, before turning to focus on my reflection in the mirror. Lya's red pills are good! I feel floating. Acutely aware of anything alive around me. An integral part of the universe. The universe is suddenly a tad shaky though.

"Alright, miss?" A girl is standing beside me, shaking my shoulder slightly. I nod at her absentmindedly. "You were spaced out," she explains and goes out. I follow her to look for my friends.


It's well past three in the morning when I'm finally home. Sappho disappeared into the night with a couple of blokes who chatted her up. Kazuko and Lya took a cab to the Battersea offices, to ring home. I've taken a cab too. Mind-altering substances, beer, and Apparition are an awfully bad combination. Harry is fast asleep - today's one of his restful nights, and I truly envy him right now.

Thank heaven tomorrow's a Saturday.

A quick shower and I'm in bed, ready to start sorting my memories of the day, so I can 'set free' today's batch of memories and try to sleep till the dreams come. Usually, sorting the day's memories is done in seconds, but tonight my mind feels sluggish.

Ten minutes later I'm sitting straight, wide awake and covered in sweat.

"What's wrong?" Harry asks me urgently.

"I'm not certain," I can only answer.

Which is bothersome in itself.


October 12 2002 - The Battersea Power Station

It's been a while since we last used the WIB offices here, but Seth forbade R from any transporter travel for the last couple of weeks now.

Sappho rolled her eyes on him and remarked that pregnant women have been transporting around for tens of millions of years now, with no ill effect. They both agree to disagree on this one. Sappho doesn't actually understand the concept of going into actual labour at all. Medically transport the baby into his crib, then transport all unnecessary tissue out of the woman's body, and Bob's your uncle. Seth wanted to tear his few remaining hairs hearing this. They do agree that it's quite ridiculous for R to give birth in London, when a couple of the best medical facilities in the whole universe are available to her on Vis-Uban and Atlantis.

Seth is on-call for her labour and will be ready to call the cavalry, in any case of complications.

I'm actually ashamed to pluck her out of her breakfast at GAIL's Northcote Road, where she and Nolan stopped for a little sustenance, before they launch for another day of looking at potential quaint nests for their growing family.

Seth took some samples, which came back inconclusive. A Nox healer identified whatever Lya had given me and helped clear it from the toxin scan Seth is looking at. He wouldn't tell us what exactly is in it, but is clearly amused by the products her Chancellorness is handing out. Before parting he gives me a small pack with small green pills.

"For when you are alone with your partner," he says, without losing that nox serenity.

Other finds are inconclusive, just as expected.

Rape drug!

Sidney updates us that, unsurprisingly - Julian Whitehouse has turned out to not be a real person. Either from Birmingham or otherwise. He copies pictures of all the people involved. That sod, who called himself Julian. the girl, who pushed me at the bar. The two girls from the loo cubicle. The one who shook me awake. He'll be looking to see if MI5 can recognise any of those as persons of interest.

Meanwhile I'm stewing in anger, staring at a single image from the memory. We watched it all several times and walked around. It isn't up to my standards. Images are tinged from the start, probably by my tiredness. They then turn hazy, right after I sipped from my drink. Then, well, I don't even know how to describe it, right after I took that pill. Images are clear enough, though. No time lost. Nothing actually happened.

Still, I feel dirty.

But it's this one image that makes my blood boil. Right after turning back from the girl pushing me from behind. Julian's hand is removed from above my glass, while the bartender is clearly looking down on it all.

Harry is hugging me all this time. For support, and to stop me from doing anything utterly stupid. R is looking at me impassively. She's worried.

About what I might do.

"We'll get it all to the yard," she tells me softly. "They'll handle it. You'll probably have to go and file a formal complaint."

I nod in agreement, not really trusting myself to speak.

I'm gonna cut his bollocks!

"And please don't go and do anything stupid?" she almost pleads with me. The MET will handle this, right?"

I look at her mutinously. "Right," I mumble.

Once I cut his bollocks off.

The look on R's face changes now. She grimaces a little, then looks surprised and introverted. "Good, good," she says, "Cause I think I'd rather get to the hospital now."

It takes us all a few moments to understand what she's saying, then rush to act. Harry pulls her chair back and helps her up. He's a brave Gryffindor and will pay for this at a later time.

"Contractions?" Seth asks, and R nods. "water breaking?" he further asks and gets a head shake. "Right, tell me when the next contraction comes?" See nods again.

"Cab will be in front in five," Sidney updates us. "Where are we going?"

"Chelsea and Westminster," Seth replies and receives an evil eye from R. Last thing she wants is people handling her.

She's on her mobile, notifying Nolan as we walk to the front doors. Harry is on the phone updating everyone else.

"I think it's a bit early to start imposing roles on it, don't you?" I hear Harry answer someone's question and chuckles.

"A boy," R tells me quietly, for only me to hear.

Cab is here, and we're on our way.


October 14th 2002 - Moon labs

"Intriguing!" says the Lantean engineer, looking at the scans we have just made,

Again!

of the Alteran data-bank device.

"Fascinating," the Tollan scientist agrees with him.

Keira motions them to go on and leave their fascination aside for later times.

"This device," the Lantean chap explains, "is a multi-dimensional-phase-generator." He taps his finger on the device, while explaining, and makes Calvin grimace with every tap. "Apparently, it can exist in all dimensions, in a specific one, or even in a specific subset of dimensions," he further explains. "Like so," and with a few taps on the keyboard he disappears from view.

"Except for the actual data and the holographic display," the Tollan carries on the explanation. "Those only exist in one single dimension."

"Right!" agrees the Lantean, who just appeared back in the lab. "The twelve'th one."

"Which shouldn't exist at all," Mr Tollan scientist summarises.

"And Harry's invisibility is using this same non-existing dimension?" Keira asks with some interest.

"And please stop tapping your finger on the active multi-dimensional-phase-generator?" Calvin asks with some exasperation.

The Tollan scientist confirms it, while the Lantean draws his hand back, holds them behind his back, and suddenly finds the ceiling to be very interesting.

"Right," Jeremy takes R's role of being the brutally practical one. "Can you replicate this? Cause if you can, we'll be able to shoot through Anubis multi-phasic shields."

"Wraith ship hulls as well," the Lantean mumbles to himself.


"I wonder who made this," I later hear the Lantean engineer tell his Tollan mate, on their way for some tea. "This is quite an ingenious design, and certainly of Lantean technology, but I don't know of anyone going by Merlin in Atlantis, when we left?"

"There wasn't one," I butt into their conversation. "We looked it up on the Atlantis database."

He shrugs. "The return,"

Cough, The great escape, cough

"Was some thousands of years before that man's time."

An idea suddenly pops into my mind. Something I should have thought about long before. "There's someone who might know," I just tell them.


"Did you fully translate it?" I ask Beatrix.

She won't answer and leads us to Harry's office, which is actually R's office, which he is keeping in trust till her return.

Defending it from invading RN forces, more like it.

It's the first time ever that Harry isn't happy with me visiting his office. Actually, he has this pinched look on his face that R used to get, each time I've brought her some tea and a biscuit and parked myself in one of her armchairs for some intellectual conversation.

Must be some Curse upon this office. Must ask Bill…

"It talks about a weapon Merlin created, to kill ascended," Beatrix explains, after Harry covers us in his invisibility. "It was intended as a weapon against the Ori from Celestis, but I reckon any ascended will be very interested and none too pleased to learn about its existence."

"Right," Harry remarks without raising his eyes from the report he's reading. "Sappho wanted us to finally do them all in. Wasn't too chuffed when I told her that 'doing someone's all in..."

"Is not federation," Beatrix and I complete his sentence together, with a laugh.

In any case, this precious information came with a name of a planet and an address. Does the name Camelot surprise any of you?

"Peers wants us to go there and collect it," Harry tells us.

"We're not about to off all the ascended?" I'm asking in surprise.

"But someone else might stumble on it and try," Beatrix agrees with the idea.


November 8th 2002 - Diagon Alley

People are looking at us funny as we walk the quirky magical street in our navy blue, tightly fitting jumpsuits. Those are practically ship uniforms not carrying the relevant military insignia and the needed tech.

It all started when the new and groovy space uniforms came out. We were all rather impressed with their capabilities and features. Most were even pleased with the design.

Navy blue is not really my colour.

Liam was rightfully made up about his achievement.

Then, I was annoyingly reminded about Ron, and about him once having been my second-best mate and all.

"Darling," I asked Kazuko, who was busy at the time, explaining the suit's architecture to Reiley. "Reckon you can make this using Runes on wood inserts?"

By the look she gave me, she most likely reckoned I was utterly bonkers. Then she gave it an actual thought and was surprised to find out that after three years of mainly working for NEC, and almost four more years of AlteRun programming, she didn't quite remember how to program, sorry, design your basic wizarding approved Rune scheme.

What followed was almost a month long hilarious project where Kazuko, Bill, Luna, and I tried to remember and discover just how to reach the wanted effects.

"Ron? Mate?" I hesitantly call entering the Broomstix shop. No need to worry, though. He's right there, at the counter, polishing a mahogany handle.

"Mate, we're off to your parents for some fun and games, like we scheduled. Ready?"

"What's with the long bathing costume?" he deadpans. Takes me a moment to understand what he's on about and roll my eyes.

"I'll show you at your parents'," I promise. "Coming?"

He has one more broom to polish yet.

"Don't be late," I urge him. "Not a lot of light time left."

At the twins I'm thoroughly hugged. Angelina locks the shop behind me, and people are already queuing for the floo to the Burrow. We're quite a large and eclectic group here this evening. The promise of our visit brought many here today. Ginny's visiting, bumping her son on her knee.

Ophiuchus? Honestly?!

Apparently, Draco is yet to grace the Burrow with his presence. Charlie is visiting with his fiancée. There are already discussions regarding a summer wedding. I've heard Fleur talking about preparing Siwa oasis for the occasion, which is an inspired idea. Even Percy is visiting today, with his wife Audrey, his little girl, and all.

"Where's Harry?" comes the expected question from Molly.

"Had to stay late at the office," I apologise for the pillock.

Even tried to 'entice' him out of the inner office. Told me to clear off and have fun.

Fleur isn't here as well. She's on a deep space mission and isn't due back for another week, or so.

Also invited are many Quiddich friends of the family.

On our side, Bill invited Kazuko, since she took a huge part in developing these suites. Also here with us are Captain Helia and her cultural attaché from the Tria. For a while now, they have been asking us to explore Earth's Magical communities. They were intrigued by the creatures of the forbidden forest. Today's short visit to Diagon Alley astounded them, but they are yet to get over their short foray into the wild realm of floo travel.

Obviously, we don't have enough suits for everyone, but there are enough to go round. Also, we didn't bother with resizing charms, so there will need to be some shuffling done.

"Right, time for a demonstration!" Bill states.

All this was done with Ron in mind. Where is the twit?

Bill spreads his arms dramatically and slowly rises into the air. The excited sounds our audience are making clearly show that everyone is properly impressed. Kazuko joins him in the air, then Luna. Suddenly there's a rush to try these new suits on. Even young Malfoy got ditched into his grandmother's arms.

"How do I fly?" Angelina asks me with some urgency.

"Just like a broom?" I give her a very counterproductive answer, and the look she is giving me back expresses it clearly.

Above us Bill and Kazuko are flying patterns and throwing a Quaffle between them. Below, Luna is setting up a mobile shield. Flying like they do isn't trivial. It took us quite a few trials and many rather amusing crashes in the padded moon hall to reach this level of proficiency.

"It doesn't have a handle to pull on to fly?" Katie has just joined us and asks.

It's remarkable just how women are able to dress much quicker than men when properly motivated.

"You don't need to pull on the handle to fly a broom, though?" I instruct them in the way of a question.

It is only a matter of seconds before my remark clicks, and first Katie, then Angelina rises slowly into the air. Katie gives a cry of delight. She accelerates, tries to turn, then crashes first into Angelina followed by both of them into the ground. It only makes them laugh and jump up to try again. Soon enough they are joined by George and Fred in the air. Being the twins we love, they try to crash into each other on purpose. Being new to the, well - game, they mostly manage to miss each other, with some hilarious results. Surprisingly enough, next up is Percy. There is a Ron-sized suit in the bag, and since he still didn't show - it is next best suited for Percy.

Where is the berk - this whole thing is done for him.

Fun has been going on for almost a couple of hours, when right as the sun went down, Ron appears, walking leisurely out of the house with his broom on shoulder. Took us a few long moments to even notice.

"Oi, where's Harry?" he calls, and gets our collective attention. Just for a short moment though, since we're too busy having fun.

I gave up my suit to Ginny for her to give this kind of flying a try, so I go for a hug and a kiss.

"Whatcha doin'?" Ron asks, finally notices the people flying and laughing.

Having fun?

"Trying out the new flying suits?" I answer, spreading my hands towards the flying circus above. "Wanna try? I have one your size." I offer.

Doesn't really. Has his broom so what's the point and all. First, I wanna pull my hair out. Then, I reconsider, and would rather pull his. This whole effort was for him!

"Just who came up with this idea?" Ron goes on and asks. What he thinks of 'this idea' doesn't need to be articulated.

"I did?"

"Looks like one of Loony's," he remarks, looking up at Luna, who's having a great time playing this aerial tag game.

Before I have enough time to articulate my thoughts into polite enough words, my mobile rings. Bill's and Luna's too. "Harry?" I ask hopefully.

"You are needed in control," the duty officer orders. "Is Bill with you?" he further asks.

"We'll be there in ten," I confirm, all happy feelings evaporated. Bill is all business in a blink of an eye. We are all well trained by now. I'm looking at this group of our friends, sad that this evening is being cut short. We should really do this more often.

Like every year, or about…

I decide to not let Ron's blinkered state of mind ruin this fun day.

"Alicia, Katie, Ange - We've made this for Ron, but he isn't interested." I tell them, and hand them the design notes. "Do what you like with it?" I offer. Their smile indicates enthusiasm. Ginny is interested as well, but sadly for her I'm not about to gift our efforts to Malfoy.


November 8th 2002 - Moon base

Bill and I are up to be met with tense faces all around. Harry is at the observatory chair, keeping out of the night's shift hair. He seems to be detached. Almost bored, even, but I can see just how tense and tired he really is. Display focuses on an area of space with nothing much in it. Used to be a funky part of the galaxy, but this was way back. Chair attendant displays information regarding one uninteresting planet after another, from the repository.

"We lost contact with HMS Seahorse," Duty officer updates us, and Bill's face blanks at once.

That's the ship Fleur and Beatrix are on!


As usual - Huge shout to flyboy38, my beta, who takes the time to make sure the story is a much better read.
Also to Dalwolf For doing Brit-Picking for, well - you all, and help my British characters stay British.

I am eternally grateful!